A Zerg Gene
by turtwig163
Summary: Vector is unaware of the cursed blood that runs though his veins. His cursed blood comes from one factor, a special gene that turns the cursed into a horrifying monster: a zerg.
1. Chapter 1

I let out a sigh. The bullies left after "messing" with me; that's what they called it, anyway. Beating me up was a more accurate description. It wasn't too bad, just some bruises here and there. I picked myself up and headed home for the weekend. I'm certainly glad I won't be seeing them for the next couple of days.

When I arrived home I quickly locked myself away in my room. After my father died, my mother lost interest in my brother and me. I can tell that his death caused her to become very unstable. She was often trying to soothe her soul by trying to replace dad. In doing so she ignored us a lot. Over time, my brother and I learned to take care of ourselves, not needing to rely on mom. My brother Greg was with me in my room. He was laying on the bed, passing time with a bored expression on his face.

The sun began to set as noon transitioned into afternoon. We were both still locked in our room when Greg noticed a bruise on my arm.

"Hey, Vector. Did the bullies get to you?" he asked, obviously concerned.

"Yeah," I sighed. "They got me again." I replied, defeated.

"You gotta be strong, don't let them push you around like that."

"I wish I could be strong, but the fact is that I'm not."

"Don't say that," he said, attempting to lift my spirit, "you'll get stronger. I'm sure of it."

There was a pause in our conversation. I started to have a headache. I thrust myself onto my bed and clutched my head to numb the pain. It didn't work. The pain kept growing and growing. I had heard from a couple friends of mine getting migraines, headaches so bad that you felt like you wanted to throw up. I had never had one myself, but this imagine this to fit the description.

"Whoa, are you alright? What's going on?"

As I lay there, a while light enveloped me. My skin bulged, covering every inch of me in a gross boil type clumps. They began to pulsate, beat like a heart pumping blood. Soon my entire body was covered with huge bumps that covered me so much that none of my previous body could be seen. I began to shrink from my five foot six inches. Smaller and smaller I became until I was about half my original size.

"Vector?!" my brother cried with worry in his voice.

My teeth grew into fangs. Organs disappeared, grew, and shifted inside of me. My hands and feet turned into a set of four claws, turning me from bipedal into a quadped monster. A set of mandibles grew out of the side of my head, a foreign body part to me. A pair of huge antenna looking things with a sickle attached to the end grew out of my back and danged there. A tail shot out of my behind, tearing through my pants which have managed to survive this far. The bumps hardened and turned brown, becoming a super hard armor for my body.

Greg watch as his brother became this monster. He was stunned about the fact that his brother was no longer human, rather some type of alien canine. At best, he imagined himself away unscathed. It took all of his strength to remain as still as possible, not wanting to agitate the beast.

Slowly, I woke up from my headache. To be honest, I felt much better than before. I felt stronger. My brother was frozen in shock like he'd just seen a monster. I soon found out the reason. I lifted my arm, which was now a claw, to my face. I ran, tried looking back at my body, trying to see what other changes could have happened. Struggling to get a good look, I turned to my brother.

"Greg, get a mirror, quick!"

He flinched. That strange thing that I was his brother just a minute ago, I was talking to him, even sounding like his brother. He slowly backed away, making way for the door.

I tried to run after him, but I tripped. I wasn't used to running on all fours. I couldn't really get anywhere. I stated at my claws and cursed at them for being so useless. I pouted on the floor. Greg noticed my attempt to charge at him and immediately rushed out of the room, fleeing for his life.

I found myself alone, alone and feared by my brother. I couldn't stay at home, if Greg freaked out about my appearance, I'm sure people who don't even know me would be scared. I spent the first few minutes adapting to my new body, the whole walking on four legs was hard to adapt since I've lived my entire live on two. I still haven't seen what I look like, and judging by Greg's reaction I don't think I look like a fluffy bunny. I hopped over to our drawers with a mirror on its top. Only problem is that now I'm a three foot tall thing so I couldn't even see my reflection in the mirror. I tackled the drawer, causing the mirror to fall off and crash besides the bed, the shattered pieces of glass centered around the once former mirror. I flinched at the demonic hound looking creature that was me. To be honest, I looked pretty scary, even to myself. What was I? Was I an alien dog? Was I some species that's never been discovered before?

It felt so unnatural, tripping and slipping over my back claws, as I finally crawled over to the door, after many failed attempts. I was finally beginning to understand the purpose of the tail in maintaining my balance. I'd say I was making pretty decent progress since I became whatever I was, for about half an hour. Though it pales in comparison to some baby animals who learn to walk in fifteen minutes after they are born. I made it out of my room and down the hall. I don't even know where Greg ran off to, but he probably wouldn't want to see me again. After a humiliating tumble down the stairs, which surprisingly didn't hurt as much as I remembered it, I limped out of the doggie door, squeezing and shaking my way. I ran away from the home that had rejected me, towards the woods behind our house where I spent most of my childhood playing and exploring.

I immediately began running. I've never felt better. All that previous anxiety seemed to fade away as I aimlessly ran. I didn't know where, but I followed my subconscious guide into the forest.

It was the old tree house. A bit more into the past, dad built this tree house for us when by brother and I were little, before he passed away. Looking at the old thing flooded my mind with memories of good times. I remember once when I fell off the tree house and Greg carried me all the way back home by himself. Another time, a squirrel came and robbed us of our food. I chuckled at that scene.

Why was I led here? Before I could really think about a good explanation, a purple substance that caked the ground caught my eyes. I could feel something echoing, but not that strongly. Like something was calling to me. I walked toward the substance, curious about the mysterious substance until I came upon a huge towering structure. It almost looked… alive.


	2. Chapter 2

Why was I led here? Before I could really think about a good explanation, a purple substance that caked the ground caught my eyes. I could feel something echoing, but not that strongly. Like something was calling to me. I walked toward the substance, curious about the mysterious substance until I came upon a huge towering structure. It almost looked… alive. The towering structure surprised me. Curiously, I made my way towards the alien building. I didn't know why it felt so comforting since I just discovered it.

"Greetings, Vector. Welcome to the swarm," a voice spoke.

Startled, Vector turned around to a see a huge bloated insect-creature walking towards them. Its appearance unlike anything from earth. Vector immediately leapt at the creature, biting onto it's scaly arm out of reaction. The insectoid tugged Vector off and gently placed him on the ground.

"I am no threat to you or your pet." she informed.

"Just who... or what are you?"

"I am the queen of this swarm, an advisor to you," she replied. "I know you have many questions to ask. Let us depart to the hatchery. I will answer your questions there" she informed, departing towards the hatchery.

I curiously headed towards this building called a 'hatchery' which stood out in the clearing. There wasn't anything around other than the hatchery, some weird caterpillar like things surrounding the base of the building, and the purple stuff underneath which covered most of the clearing I was used to seeing as a kid. Rather, when we arrived at the entrance to the hatchery, the queen was there waiting for me.

"I apologize for my inefficiency. This location hardly provides us the mineral resources we are used to. We have been barely surviving on bio energy," she paused and frowned. "Now that you are here with us, I am sure we will maximize our efficiency."

"Uh… first of all, what am I?"

"You are a zergling."

"Okay. Then what is a zergling?"

"A zergling is the first born warrior species of the zerg race. Their fangs and claws rip though enemies. The most infamous trait about zerglings are their rush tactics."

Her answer brought up even more questions in my head: What is the zerg? What is bio energy? How did I become a zergling? What are those worm like thingies around the hatchery? Are they dangerous? Why me? I'm so confused. As if on cue, my stomach let loose a loud grumble.

"I guess I'm hungry as well; though I'm not too sure what I can eat as a zergling. Do you know?" I asked the queen.

"All zerg feed mainly off of the creep, the purple gooey substance we stand on. All of our resources that we refine and absorb are then diverted into the creep system. The nutrient packed creep sustains any who consume it," the queen lectured.

"I… I didn't know," I said while looking at the creep. The creep was a squishy, purple substance. It was not completely a liquid or a solid. It was something in the middle; the texture of wet clay*. I gave into my hunger and hesitantly snacked on the alien snack. It was amazing. I was at a loss of words. It tasted of all my favorite foods: cheeseburger, pizza, watermelon, strawberry, chocolate, and so much more. It was heaven. I wolfed down mouthfuls until I was satisfied. I expected it to taste terrible, all those flavors together. However, I could taste them all separately and one didn't overpower the other; they were in perfect balance.

"Why does it taste so good?" I asked, licking my mouth.

"Your brain seems to have stimulated the reaction of other delicious tastes. We pure zerg have never eaten anything other than creep but our brains stimulate a savory taste. Your brain, however, stimulates previous tastes and merely gives the illusion of said foods," the queen replied.

"I see," I said partly disappointed, realizing it was all an illusion; the heavenly taste. Then I realized something; if my brain stimulated those tastes, then I could essentially have the flavor of anything. I began to drool at the possibilities.

"Perhaps now that your hunger is quenched, will you begin?"

"Uh… okay? What do I do?"

"Whatever you wish; the swarm bends to your will."

"Uh… what swarm?" I asked looking around at the setting.

"Apologies; I am the only current zerg unit. My suggestion is to create an overlord to efficiently increase the amount of control you exert."

"But why would I need to do that? Am I not in control already?"

"Why, yes you are, Vector. However, you can only control a certain amount of zerg before the limit is too much for you to handle. This problem is solved by the usage of overlords, which provide control over more zerg. This is the zerg hierarchy, with you at the head, delivering orders to the overlords and queens, which then relay the information to the other zerg that have not developed an intellectual capability."

Understanding a little bit more about the zerg, I took her advice and attempted to create an overlord; somehow.

"Uh… become an overlord," I spoke within my head. A thought bounced back telling me that a larva had begun mutation. Is this how bats feel when using their echolocation except with sound?

Hours passed and nothing happened.

"I'm boooored," I groaned. "Nothing's happening."

"On the contrary, the creep is accumulating bio energy and the overlord is near completion. That is certainly something," the queen corrected me.

I lay down, dying of boredom. He gave me a brief curious look then went back to pondering about my current situation since there was no better thing to do.

"Helloooo? Vector? Where are you?"

I tensed up. I recognize that voice.

A young girl, twelve in age, stumbled upon the clearing which we were in. She wore a red striped yellow t-shirt and a pink skirt. Beige tennis shoes covered her feet and a hair band taming her long, silky black hair. Normally, her face sported a playful smile. When she laid her on the zerg, her smile was forced away with shock. She was unfortunate to lock her eyes with mine. That's when I saw terror grasp her heart. She was Delta; my childhood friend.

On a brighter note, the overlord had just hatched and rose into the air. Observing the current situation it spoke.

"_Is this a bad time, overmind?"_

…

*Instead of wet clay, I imagine that a watery sand and water mixture consistency is a more accurate description of creep. However, as Vector never experienced sand before, he wouldn't know. I'm just throwing this fact in for clarification.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Is this a bad time, overmind?"_

Delta couldn't take any more of this horrifying sight; she fainted.

"Delta!" I yelled out as I rushed over to her.

"Vector, I believe you are rushing into your problems without careful analysis. How will you be able to move her without further harming her? The answer: you cannot, not with those claws."

I looked down at my claws. The queen was right. I collapsed next to her, sulking.

"Overmind," the overlord verbally spoke this time, "may I offer my assistance to your predicament? Shall I move the human female to the hatchery?"

"Uh… y-yeah." I managed to stutter, not completely recovered from the incident.

The overlord loomed over Delta then gently wrapped its tentacles around the limp body. It moved her body over to the hatchery where she was transferred into the grasp of the queen. Delta was carried into center of the hatchery, a big hollow room the size of classroom. Gently laid on the creep covered ground, my mind began to worry.

How would I explain this to Delta? I don't even know how I became a zergling, not to mention she'll be in complete panic.

"Highly unlikely is the possibility that she receives this information in a calm manner. More likely, she will attempt to escape and be highly uncooperative."

She stirred making me jump. We approached her and watched as her chest rose and deflated with every subtitle breath. Her eyes opened. She screamed. Seeing a demonic hound beast loom over you is more than potent enough to scare your pants off. She fumbled; her back against a fleshy wall, her hands covering her face. She was bracing for impact.

"We do not wish to harm you, Delta, friend of Vector."

Her eye switched from the queen to Vector, watching for any movements and scanning for any possible exit while remaining relatively collected.

"W-Who are you? And h-h-how do you know my name?"

"Why, Vector himself provided the information."

"V-Vector did? W-W-Why?"

"I am sure he desired only for your safety. Is that not right?" she asked as she turned towards me.

"T-T-T-That's Vector?!" she yelled. "Ha ha ha," she nervously let out. "That isn't Vector. You sound like him but Vector is my friend and he certainly isn't this monster."

"May I suggest questioning him. You may prove his authenticity in being Vector."

"How did we meet?"

"We met in Mrs. Freedman's Kindergarten class. It was recess time and I was sitting alone on a bench under the shade of a tree, watching everyone else play with each other. You saw that I was lonely and came over to me. "

"Okay…" she mumbled. She wasn't overcame her initial fear, having stopped trembling. "Do I like raisin cookies?"

"No. You hate raisin cookies which is usually why you give them to me."

"Do I have an older brother who would give his life to protect me?"

"You don't have an older brother; you're an only child." I think that's why she likes me so much. I'm her only friend.

"Do I like to hang out in Mrs. Prime's room during lunch?"

No. She usually sat with me at the gardens.

"I hate that my parent force me to play violin."

Yes. I remember her telling me that when I first saw her practicing her violin skills.

"My middle name is Nor."

Crap. I didn't know her middle name. If I mess this up she won't trust me, but I can't just ask her. I nodded my head no.

"Ha!" she jumped and pointed her finger at me. "I knew it. You're not Vector. He would have known my middle name! You really are a monster."

I frowned at that. Everyone is criticizing me by my looks. I'm still the same Vector inside.

"Can't you just give me a chance, Delta?"

"I already have, and you failed. I'm not speaking to you anymore." She crossed her arms and scoffed.

"Most unfortunate," the queen muttered. "I shall tend to the larvae outside, Vector." She exited the hatchery, looking back at me once.

It was no use, she made up her mind. Now what would I do? I can't let her go, but if I keep her, then her parents might suspect something and find all of this. I... I don't know what to do.

Delta looked at me and sighed. She inched closer to me. It looked as if she were going to whisper something. Maybe she decided to give me a second chance.

"Do know that I love you?" the words rushed into my ear.

I… I didn't know she would say that, let alone feel that way about me. However, it gave her enough time to punch me in the face, causing me to collapse onto the ground. She used this opening to run away from this nightmare.

All that I could muster out of my mouth was, "She… she loves me?"

"She… she loves me?" I repeated.

I couldn't believe what she just said to me. I stood there for a minute, jaw-dropped, thinking about what she said. Then I realized that she just punched me and ran away. She would rat me out and ruin us. I'd get taken by the government; a lab animal for their dissections and projects. I've gotta catch her. Running out of the hatchery, I surveyed the setting. Nothing. I couldn't see her. I'm doomed.

"Vector," a familiar voice interjected, "is the female companion important to you?"

I looked up; it was the queen.

"Yeah. She's just a friend I knew since kindergarten."

"Kindergarten? I am not familiar of this term," the queen stated.

"Umm… let's just say since I was young; heck, I've known her most of my life."

"I see. So this female is significant to you. In that case, I present you with her," she rambled on as she brought Delta, constricted in a creep cocoon, from her back. "I found her fleeing from the hatchery. Desiring not of your wrath, I prevented her escaped and now present her to you."

"Oh, thank you. It would have been really bad if she were to spread awareness of us."

"Let go of me!" Delta struggled in her creep casing. "If I apologize, will you let me go? I'll do anything. Just don't kill me," her voice quivering at her fatal mistake.

The queen brought her back into the hatchery and unraveled her coating. She blocked the exit so we could try the trust exercise again.

Delta broke down, crying. The aliens were toying with her until they would rid of her. Tears trickling down her cheeks like a smooth river flowing over the riverbanks.

"Delta!" I shouted. "Look at me! I'm Vector, I won't hurt you!"

She tensed up. The thing just shouted at her; was this the end?

I let loose a sigh. Obviously direct force wouldn't get me anywhere. I cautiously nudged my way over to where she sat. She looked at me establishing eye contact. I plopped onto my belly beside her in response.

"Vector, if that really is you… then… why?" she sniffles as her eyes unleashed waterworks again. "Why are you a monster? Why? Why did it have to be you?"

"I… I don't know," I meekly responded. She understood the message from my tone.

We just sat there for what seemed like hours. I just didn't know where to go from this point.

"Um… it's getting late," Delta suddenly spoke. "I should get going home… if you'll let me."

I pondered on it for a moment. Letting her go would mean her freedom, but she could turn on us and use this opportunity to expose us to the media. Conversely, if I kept her here would her parents worry and call an investigation about their missing daughter? Ambivalent thoughts swirled in my head. It was a gamble, really.

"Um… I can't believe I'm saying this," she grumbled to herself, "but if you let me go, I'll try my best to come back tomorrow. Okay?"

I hesitated. I wanted to trust her because she's my friend. Then the punch to my face moment crept up. Would she betray me again? I gave into myself; I let her go. I nodded to affirm her statement. The queen move away from the exit, and Delta bolted out the door and to her home.

"I hope I made the right choice…" I muttered to myself.

It was night time. I couldn't go back to my house, obviously, I wasn't wanted. The creep carpeting was much more comfortable than the wooden floors and rough, shaggy carpets of my house anyways.

I wasn't tired. I ran over to the queen to prod her with a few more questions.

"Hey, umm... Queen?" I was unsure of her name so I settled with the title 'Queen' for now. "Why am I not sleepy? It's late at night and I should feel a bit tired after today's events."

"The secret is in our remarkable energy supply, creep, as well as our digestive system. Our bodies metabolize nutritious creep much slower than you are used to. Compared to a human, our digestive system extracts every single drop of potential nutrient possible. Humans, on the other hand, only absorb half of the potential resources into their body; the other half gets excreted as waste. Our superb system, however, is so potent that we excrete minimal thermal waste, therefore having more energy. This is why zerg do not need to eat and rest as frequently as humans do. However, that is not to say we do not need food and rest; we do tire out after vigorously participating in an activity, but it is rare compared to the tendency of humans."

"Wow. I guess this brings on a whole new meaning to the term 'sleepless nights,'" I chuckled.

The full moon brightly lit the forest. It didn't matter to the zerg. The eyes could see the most vivid detail with a sliver of light. I didn't need an explanation as to why or how this was possible. I simply thought about how many animals could do this: cats, owls, deep sea creatures.

I tested my new body throughout the night. It turns out that all a zergling does is run really fast for long periods of time and close range claw attacks. Sounds terrible, but with a bit of imagination, those abilities can go a long way. Zergling make pretty decent scouts; being quick and the stamina to back it up. Plus I'm sure my claws can beat any can opener at opening a can any day of the week.

The sun began to peak over the mountains. I've never seen a sunrise, mostly cause I was too lazy to wake up early enough. I've gotta say, my first sunrise was beautiful. The pink-red hue of the sky was just an appetizer to the main course. The sun rose as if it were just waking up from a night's rest; not shining in all its glory, yet not fully asleep. I felt I could relate to the sun, just rising in the morning and getting ready for school.

All that morning I impatiently awaited Delta's return. Why was I waiting like a kid waiting at the door for his father who is returning from a business trip? I couldn't be _that_ excited, could I? It was sometime in the afternoon when Delta finally showed up at the hatchery.

"Sorry I'm late. My mom wouldn't let me leave until after my violin practice and lunch. And then, I was debating whether or not to come back here. I know I made a promise, but I made a promise to some alien dog that claims to be my best friend… I was scared."

I put on a smile. At least she was here, fulfilling her promise, albeit a little later than I would have liked.

"What is that?" Delta asked pointing to the overlord who floated amongst the clouds. "Is it another alien like you? Was it another person?"

"Well, that is one of my minions. It's referred to as an overlord. No, it's not a former person."

She was obviously fascinated by the overlord by the captivated look on her face. I told the overlord to land in front of us.

"Awww… what happened? Why isn't it flying anymore?" she complained.

I understood it now. She was fascinated by flight; I didn't know that.

"_Overlord, is there a way for you to carry passengers in flight?"_

"_Yes, overmind_," he replied as a hole opened up on his side. "_Enter though this gap and I shall take you up_."

I nudged Delta to the opening. At first, she refused to go inside that monster. I tried my best, and eventually had to drag her into the overlord. Once inside, the door closed up and we could feel the overlord become airborne. The inside of the overlord was laminated by the sunlight that crept in through holes on the top of the room. The room itself was pretty spacious; roughly the size of an apartment room. Delta was pretty scared. Of course she would be scared; she's inside an alien, in the dark, next to some hound thing with claws, probably elevating to some crazy height where she'd die if dropped. Suddenly, the room brightened. The dark room disappeared in an instant and was replaced by the skies.

Delta and I were stunned. It was if we were floating in midair. The clouds were above us, the ground miles below us. The sight was awe striking, exhilarating. Neither of us has experienced flight and this was a wonderful first. I couldn't get enough of it, to move so freely in the air, to go any direction. We were up there long enough for the sky to change from a baby sky blue to a rosy pink. It was finally time for us to land. The overlord set us down as we walked out.

"That; was; amazing!" Delta joyously proclaimed. "I had a fun time, Vector. I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow, okay? It's late and I gotta go home; my mom's probably worried about me. I'll see you tomorrow." She bid her farewell and ran off before her mom would give a scolding.

I had a lot to think about tonight. It seems like I'm earning Delta's trust; just beginning to see the true me. She even called me Vector instead of a monster.

The next day we went flying again. She even arrived earlier than I expected, eager to become airborne. The day passed; Delta obsessed over the skies. However, one flight was enough for me. It was amazing the first time, but I feel that it has lost the exotic touch in one flight.

"Vector, not to question your decisions, but I would like some insight as to why you have not been evolving the swarm."

"Oh, I'm supposed to do that? I didn't know what to do. So umm… as my adviser, what should I do next?"

"I suggest that you birth some zergling. We will need the warriors of the swarm to fend against any hostile attacks."

"Wait… you mean turn more people into zergling like me?!"

"Incorrect, you are erroneous in your statement. I am referring to normal zergling though the normal method. Unlike how overlords are mutated from larvae birthed from the hatchery, zergling are birthed from the spawning pool. They are born in pairs in set intervals over time from the bio energy gathered by the structure. You were a special case."

"Can you go into more detail about it? I don't really understand what happened to me, why I was chosen, or even why it happened."

Queen cringed. I could tell she didn't want to talk about it. But dang it, I wanted to know the reason behind this. Why did I become a zergling? Why me of all people?

"You turned into a zergling because of a gene that exists in your body; a zerg gene."


	4. Chapter 6

Queen cringed. I could tell she didn't want to talk about it. But dang it, I wanted to know the reason behind this. Why did I become a zergling? Why me of all people?

"You turned into a zergling because of a gene that exists in your body; a zerg gene. It is a dormant gene that under normal circumstances will not activate. What caused it to stir is us, a zerg presence within a close proximity. I have slightly researched into this topic and set out into the galaxy for the one with this gene. It is said that this gene is only present in one who is the embodiment of purity of essence, though I am not quite sure if that is true. About the gene itself, when it is triggered, it begins to overrun your current DNA and replace it with the DNA structure of a zerg member. The mutate gene replicates, multiplies, and infests until your physical body is that of a zerg."

"So… the reason I'm a zerg… is because of some stupid gene that I was born with?!" I didn't know how to feel. Angry that I was chosen, or a bit relieved to know that it was fate, not me, that caused the change. The next question burst from my mouth, "Is there a way to reverse the affects?"

"Not at the current moment in time, Vector. However, I am researching into this topic. The only problem I encounter is research-material. The swarm cannot sustain a heavy research topic such as the mysterious zerg gene at such an infant level of evolution. The swarm will need to grow as well as the resources to sustain that growth."

"What do you recommend I do to make it to the highest evolution level?"

"As you know, creep collects energy from the sun, the ground, and anything on the creep then converts the raw energy into a usable bio energy state for the disposal of the swarm. The bigger the creep carpet, the more resources it will absorb though the creep. To spread creep carpet, a queen can spit out creep tumors. These tumors are burrowed structures that continually produces creep within a certain radius around them. A single creep tumor also has the ability to spawn another creep tumor on any of the existing creep while queens can spawn tumors deepening on their current energy levels. Performing special skills, coughing up creep tumors for example, drains the user's energy therefore, can be used when enough energy is accumulated to perform a certain skill. While creep tumors need to be plotted on existing creep to survive, there is another possibility to spread creep; though the hatchery."

I nodded to let Queen know that I understood most of what she said. It seems so familiar yet really bizarre at the same time.

"Um… as my advisor, can I leave you in temporary command while I am away?"

"Yes you can, if it is your will. Despite long distances, you can always command the swarm telepathically. We are all linked in one big network."

"Then is it alright if I go back home for a while? I bet somebody is worried I haven't been seen in two days."

"Of course. We will not question your choice."

"I'll be back. I'm not sure when, but I will," I promised. I returned home late at night. Greg had gone out so I hopped onto my bed to rest a bit.

"Honey is that you?" mom asked. She peeked into the room from behind the door. She was surprised to the monster again, yet it looked cute curled up on Vector's bed.

"Sorry. I though Greg had come home." She fully entered the room and seated herself on a chair, from where she could observe me. "You're such a scary looking hound. Though, you haven't been really aggressive so I guess I was wrong. In fact, I bet you're a puppy on the inside, aren't you, Sharp?"

I smiled and repositioned myself on the bed.

She chuckled. "It's almost like you can understand me. I guess I'm just tired." She exited out of the room, further mumbling to herself.

Mom is really acting pretty strange. Maybe it's because of the zerg, maybe because it's 1 in the morning.

I wanted to see how the swarm was coming along.

"_Hello, Vector,"_ Queen telepathically greeted me. _"Currently, a layer of creep tumors has encircled the edges of the previous creep boundaries, expanding the creep radius. It is currently nighttime which greatly hinders our bio energy collectivization. The moonlight is simply reflected sunlight. However, from its rebound from the moon, it loses about half of the energy, therefore reducing energy collectivization."_

"_Thank you for the update, Queen. I shall contact you again later."_

I was pretty comfortable on my bed. It didn't compare to the creep, but the soft silk was acceptable.

Thud. Thud.

The door opened and slammed shut.

I raced to the source of the sudden intrusion, downstairs. The entire house was dark, the only light sources were the moonlight though windows and a reddish glow from my eyes.

The lights turned on.

"Vector!" Greg shouted in surprise. "I didn't think you'd be home."

I would have raised my eyebrow if I had one, I still tried. He's acting awfully suspicious.

"You should really hide, oh maybe in the forest or something. Definitely away from here," he said with a shaky voice.

Thump. Thump.

"Greg?" our mom asked as she appeared from the staircase. "Honey, what are you doing? It's almost 2 in the morning."

"Mom! Look, both of you should get out and away as far as possible. Go hide in the forest, just go!"

"What's all this about honey? Did something hap-"

Thud. Thud. Thud, Thud!

There was banging on the front door, the one Greg was standing in front of.

"Go, now!" he urgently whispered.

Mom got the message. She was running towards the back door. Bang. A gunshot seemed to have frozen time.

"Don't anyone move," a gruff voice called form the other side of the door. "Step away from the door, Greg. You don't want this to get messy, would you?"

I glanced for a place to hide. I could fit behind the couch against the wall. It was risky seeing as it was right next to the door, but a hiding place nevertheless. I quietly crept into place.

"Okay, fine. I give. I'm going to step away from the door. It's unlocked by the way."

Greg stepped back and the door opened. Luckily, the door swung open so that the door covered view of me behind the couch.

"Now there's a good boy. Now, let's talk. I'm sure your mother," he pointed the gun towards mom, "would be happy more than happy to let me in, right?"

Mom trembled with fear. It worse than the fear of first meeting me as a zergling. It was a complete fear mixed with anger.

"Jason?!" she finally spoke up. "How could you?!"

"Your son here owes me. Now, you know what to do, boy."

"Fine," he grudgingly scoffed. "I'll go get it."

"You know what? I don't trust you getting it. How's about I make sure you don't try anything funny. I'll be watching everything you do so don't try anything funny," he threatened as he walked in and closed the door behind him.

Big mistake buddy.

…

Just a quick question: how old do you think all the characters are? I purposely left this vague for now. I might patch it up later.


	5. Chapter 7

He walked in and closed the door behind him.

Big mistake buddy. He just walked into a position where I could easily attack him and closed his only exit. Still, I shouldn't get too cocky. For all I know, a penguin blimp could crash into our house and crush me. Highly unrealistic, but it is a possibility.

"Now, how about you take me? It has been a while since I've last come to your house; how long has it been since we last met each other, Mey?"

Mom looked down. I would seriously make this guy regret everything he's done tonight. Just a bit more.

"Oh that's right, when we were dating. You were so easy to manipulate," Jason scoffed. "How long. How long has it been? A year? Two years? I remember how bitterly you reacted when you found out. You dumped me on the spot. I lost a lot without your money. Ha, I guess I gotta kill you now that you know. But, let me tell ya, it was worth the effort spoiling you with my real ambitions right now. Say, where's the other one? Victor?"

I froze. This could turn ugly.

"Yeah, your other son, Victor. Wonder where he's off to. Haven't seen him around in the past two days. I wonder if he's run away from home, or worse- dead."

Mom started sniffling. I could tell she really missed me.

"Enough strolling down memory lane, show me the goods, boy."

This was my chance. With all my might, I rushed from behind the couch and tackled Jason to the ground. He didn't expect something to attack him from behind, much less an animal. He kicked me away and paled when he finally got a good look at me. I was a demonic dog from hell. I didn't care, this gave me an opening to tear him apart. Trembling, he fired shaky shots at me. I could feel the bullets lodge into my carapace, emanating burning pain. I didn't care, I wanted to take this guy down. Ignoring the bullets, I tackled him down again.

Click. Click.

He was out of bullets. I sliced a gash on his right leg. He howled in pain, blood gushing out of the deep wound. I looked him straight in the eyes. That was enough to pee in his pants. I stabbed him with my front claws twice. That was enough to puncture his internal organs, killing him.

Blood stained my claws and the floor. I had bullet wounds all over my body. I wouldn't have been able to survive that as a human. The two onlookers were horrified in what they just witnessed. This little dog-beast, not even half as tall as a person, could kill like a cheetah, a wolf, a lion. Mom was more shocked than Greg. Looking at Greg, he wasn't scared. Rather, he looked pretty neutral about what just happened, like it was no big deal. Then again, I was just shot five times and I'm not really bothered by it. Actually, I'm feeling better already. The wounds were healing at an incredibly fast rate.

Greg cleaned up the mess while mom locked herself away in her room. He rinsed all the blood off of me; I was squeaky clean. I went to check up on mom while he took out the 'trash.' I peered into mom's room.

"Mom?"

She lay flat on the bed. She sat up and screamed, throwing pillows as an impulse, not that it'll do much to me. When she finally ran out of pillows, she curled up into a ball. I could see that she was seriously unstable after that incident. I really didn't know how to react. Thinking more about it, I'm sure she didn't want to cuddle with the beast that just killed a man half an hour ago. I sat at the door, making sure mom knows that I'm not aggressive. Eventually she exhausted herself so much that she practically fell asleep. I was there, unable to go to sleep, waiting. The moon faded and the sun awoke.

She yawned. "Good morning, Sharp. I just had the strangest dream where you killed my ex-boyfriend, Jason. It was so realistic, though." Shaking her head and focusing back on reality, she motioned for me to follow her "Come on, I'll get you some food."

We made our way down to the kitchen. She pulled out a dog bowl and poured dog food into it. I didn't know we had all this dog stuff.

"You know, you remind me a bit of Mac, our old dog. Maybe it was because I was scared of both when I first met them. Maybe it's because both are extremely loyal. I'm not really sure," she rambled on as she sipped her morning coffee.

I don't remember having a pet dog, ever. It must have been when I was extremely young or even before. I wasn't really hungry, not after filling up on creep. Still, I licked the dog food to see what it'd taste like. It wasn't bad; I could taste each individual meat flavor that made up the pellets, but it was nothing compared to creep.

"Not hungry? Oh well. It's there if you ever need it," she sighed as she pet my head.

She left back into her room leaving me in the kitchen.

"_Vector, we have a problem."_

"_What is it?"_ I asked as I immediately rushed towards the hatchery.

"_It requires your dire attention; it concerns the human female you call Delta."_

That was all I needed to hear to run even faster. Don't worry Delta, I'm coming.

…


	6. Chapter 8

"Vector, we have a problem."

"What is it?" I asked as I immediately rushed towards the hatchery.

"It requires your dire attention; it concerns the human female you call Delta."

That was all I needed to hear to run even faster. Don't worry Delta, I'm coming. It turns out that it wasn't really serious; just Delta complaining and whining to Queen for what seemed like hours to her. I let loose a sigh, same old Delta. I took her into the overlord for another ride; she just doesn't get tired of flying. Instead, I turned my thoughts upon the swarm, see what's up.

"_Queen, how have thing been doing?"_

"_Well, Vector, everything is running smoothly. I have not yet produced any warriors of the swarm, instead redirecting those resources into expanding the swarm. As you may have noticed, the hatchery looked much different than before. That has resulted from an evolution into a much more complex organism. It now allows for the access of level two zerg genetic information. Along with the evolution, a few more buildings were erected: the evolution chamber, baneling nest, and roach warden, all of which provide genetic information of even more complex warrior zerg stains."_

"_Thanks for the update, Queen. What about research? How has that been going?"_

"_Well… I do have one lead in restoration of your former body."_

"_You do?! Come on, out with it already!"_

"_I can possibly recreate your former body with a sample of its DNA. The zerg DNA has completely infested your DNA and I cannot undo the damage nor use the damaged DNA. I would need a pure DNA sample, a rather difficult sample to obtain. I apologize. I did not mean to give you false hope."_

"_Well… at least you have a lead about it; that in itself is worthy of acknowledgement. Thank you for trying, Queen."_

"_Once again, my apologies, Vector. However, I would like to point out an observation of mine, if you permit me to do so."_

"_Go ahead. Next time, don't ask me for permission, just go ahead and say it."_

"_As you wish, Vector. The human male named Greg has been quite the intriguing specimen to observe. Although a human, he cares deeply for you. Why is that? Is he not intimidated?"_

"_Well, he's my brother. He's been kind and taking care of me ever since mom hasn't been taking care of us. We've had a close relationship ever since then. I used to think out bond was inseparable. Now that I'm a zergling, I'm sure of our bond."_

"_I see. Thank you for quenching my curiosity. I do have one other concern to discuss: our resources. You are aware that the swarm currently functions on bio energy synthesized by the creep from solar energy. However, I would like to increase our resource pool; perhaps though a wider creep spread or though raw minerals and gas. About thirty bio energy is gathered every day. We need more resources to sustain an enormous swarm. Our current bio energy has been directed into erecting buildings. I posit we take action against theses non-preferable conditions."_

"_Okay… I guess we can spread the creep farther. It won't be too bad as long as it is within the boundaries of the forest, and not bothering the people in the town. I don't really want to attract attention to ourselves, not after the incident with mom's ex-boyfriend…"_

"Hey, Vector," Delta said, "are you alright? You froze up."

I nodded my head. I guess I focused all my energy on telepathically talking with Queen for a while.

"You know, I wish I could understand you. It'd be really helpful," she commented then went back to gazing out the 'window.'

She's right. It would make a lot of things easier. She went back home and I to mine. I don't even know where Greg wandered off to and at this point I didn't really care. I'm sure he has his own important things to do.

I spent the night discussing matters with Queen, most importantly for a way to talk with people again. It turns out if I project my thoughts onto an overlord, the overlord can use its vocal cords to replicate my thoughts. Kinda weird, but I guess it'll have to do for now. I can't wait to finally be able to 'talk' with Delta again.

A day passed; no sign of Delta. It couldn't be. She wouldn't have lied. She wouldn't betray me… but she would betray an alien who claimed to be her best friend… No… I can't worry. I'm sure something just popped up and she had to take care of it. I'm sure. Night again and still no word from Delta, not even from Greg. I simply waited. I know she's going pull though.

The next morning passed. The next day passed. The sun began to sink back into the mountain ranges.

"Vector!"

I knew it. She wouldn't have betrayed me. Delta ran into the clearing, stopping to catch her breath when she got to me.

"Sorry I haven't been here for a while. It's just school's taken a lot out of me. I can't really stay long either, I have to be home in a few minutes."

School. I completely forgot that there was school yesterday and today. Now I'm sure that my cover would be blown. People will notice I'm missing then the cops will be all over us.

"Delta," I spoke though the overlord, "I missed you so much."

"You…you can talk?!" she retaliated in surprise.

"Yeah. With a bit of projection from the overlord, I can talk again."

"Oh man. There's just so much I want to ask you and talk with you, but I have to get going. I'll be grounded for life if I don't get back in two minutes. Bye!" she yelled as he started her marathon back home.

I let loose a sigh. Looks like I won't be getting to talk to Delta for a while. A rustle in the bushes interrupted my thought. A bullet lodged itself into my carapace before I could even investigate the source. Three more bullets followed, all hitting their mark. I scampered away from the hatchery, deeper into the forest.

"_We're under attack. Queen, overlord; what do we do?"_I asked, fearing for my life.

"_We are under attack by a quite large group of terran infantry. Some have decided to pursue on foot while the majority wait in their vehicles,"_ the overlord informed.

"_Both Overlord and I have escaped the men as they have begun gunning down the main lair. I have transferred all the stored bio energy from the creep system into each of us. I am sure we would not have been able to fend off this force with no warriors. I am sorry. The best I can calculate is to retreat and begin another base elsewhere,"_ Queen added on.

We ran away. Okay… so I ran. Queen crawled at a tediously slow rate, and Overlord flew. Whatever, I don't really care about the technicalities at this point. We're all going to die. Unless…

"_Okay. We can't out run them. They have too many forces. Heck, I don't even know who we're fighting against. Worst case scenario: we all die. So… here's what I want you guys to do. Overlord, carry Queen the best you can and get out of here. I know for a fact that Earth doesn't take kindly to aliens…"_

"_What about you, Vector?"_

"_Well… I'm going to distract them. Overlord, I'm ordering you to take Queen and get as far away from here as you can. Nowhere on this planet is safe for you two, but outer space is. Now go!"_

Unwillingly, the two flew into the atmosphere. Bullets were shot at Overlord. If this continued, they wouldn't make it. I had to step in; I had to distract them. I ran towards the source of the bullets. I was heading into a suicide mission. It was a police force that feverously shot at Overlord.

"Hey!" I shouted knowing it would get their attention.

They stopped shooting and looked straight at me. They longer they stared, the more time Overlord and Queen would have to get farther away.

"Catch me if you can," I taunted.

I didn't want to kill them, just distract them. I ran. I ran for my life. They resumed shooting, shooting at me, rather the frightening alien beast. Bullet flew by, missing, grazing my body, or tucking themselves into a nice hole they dug for themselves into my carapace. It hurt.

After a storm of bullets, enough damage was done to reduce me to a crawl. Eventually they caught me. I looked at one of the officers, and he snarled at me. With one last look he aimed his gun at me.

I blacked out.

Bang! The gun shot echoed throughout the forest.

…

Sorry this one took so long. A combination of school and a lack of transition/plot hindered me greatly when trying to write this chapter. My original plan was to keep the group on Earth and settle there. Then ideas flooded into my head and I realized that Earth would simply not do.

Either one of two things can happen: I can merge this story with my other story titled "Zerg Reign" and have this as a prologue to that. If I were to do so, it would be nearing cross-over status if not outright a cross-over. Or I can completely ignore that and instead come up with a complete starcraft-centric story with new ideas.

Also, I run a zerg ask-blog on tumblr. It's a pretty good pass time and helps me get into the mood of the characters. If you like this story, I recommend you check it out. It'd be like getting double doses of zerg without having to wait for me to update this story half-as often. The link the ask-blog is found on my fanfiction author's page.


	7. Chapter 9

With one last look he aimed his gun at me.

I blacked out.

Bang! The gun shot echoed.

I woke up in a dark space. I was floating and I can't see anything. I must have spent hours, days even, in that suspended state. Then, it was as if someone turned a vacuum on. The current was pulling me in. I resisted; I swam/floated my best in the opposite direction, but alas I succumbed to the suction.

I opened my eyes. I see a lush, green forest surrounding our hatchery. Did Overlord and Queen not obey me? Why didn't they leave? More importantly, where is the swarm of police forces? I couldn't see them. I tried moving, but my body wouldn't respond to my thoughts. I tried lifting my claw, but it wouldn't budge. There was something else lurking within my head, almost like another person. It was… calling out to me. I can't quite hear it. Wait… it's getting louder, and louder.

"_Vector? Vector? Can you hear me?"_

Wait. Isn't that… Queen? How is she able to communicate with me? Didn't the guy kill me? How am I still alive for that matter? I'm so confused.

"_Queen? What's going on? What happened?"_

"_After you told us to leave, I knew that you were willing to sacrifice yourself for our safety. Therefore with some bio energy, I recalled your conscious, before you were shot and killed, into my body-"_

"_Wait, say what?! You mean I'm in your body?!"_

"_Phrased like that- yes. Please understand the sake of our survival depends on you staying alive. I merely did what was necessary while staying within the margin of your orders."_

"_Still, couldn't there have been another way?"_

"_No, Vector. Unfortunately, you are merely a spectator in my body. I am in control of my body physically, however, you are still able to command Overlord and I as you wish, just from inside my head."_

"_Okay. So is there any way I can get a separate body, you know, one where I can move myself?"_

"_It is possible-"_

"_Great! How long will it take?"_

"_I require enough energy to create your body and a grounded biological organism for you to feast upon, but-"_

"_There. Will that beast do?"_

Conveniently, a big wolf-like mammal stood before us. It was sniffing the ground then picked its head up and looked at us. It snarled and unsheathed its teeth, displaying its ferocity.

"_Queen, I think we have a prime host for the recreation of my body. Otherwise, you two are going to have a massive fight."_

She sighed and let loose a flicker of spores in the direction of the wolf. That was the last thing I saw before I blacked out. I couldn't see anything, but I could certainly feel things. I feel pulsing, beating, organs growing, an exoskeleton growing, all that. It was really weird feeling my body grow. Something in my head told me it was time. I clawed at my 'egg' in attempts to escape and be in control of my own body once again. My left claw puncture though the shell. My right claw followed and, together, tore apart the egg. My first though: freedom! The first thing I see is red. Everything is a bloody mess. I lay in the carcass of the dead beast along with another ferocious looking creature. Blood dripped off of the creature eye level with me. And still, I don't know what happened.

"Queen?" I verbally called out.

"Yes, Vector?" she replied. Funny, I can actually hear her response.

I turned around and saw her. I know she was big when we first met, but she's towering now. I feel as if I were looking up at a mountain. Did my 'death' affect my perception of her height or something?

"What the heck happened?!" I yelled out at no one in particular. I'm so confused right now.

"Allow me to bring you up to date, Vector. I released spores onto the wolf creature. These spore, once in contact with the beast, instantly metabolized as served as your breeding grounds. The parasite drained the host of all its energy and transferred it to your developing body. The violent energy shifts causes the host to explode, killing him in the process. That is how your current species, the broodling, is born. Like the zergling, broodling are born in pairs, hence your twin," she concluded as she pointed at the other broodling.

"So this is what I look like," I mouthed in fascination as I studied my twin's physical body.

"Wait… what happened to my zergling body? Why am I a broodling instead of a zergling?"

"Unfortunately, your former zergling body was destroyed in our evacuation of your planet. Unable to retreat it, I made do with what I have. Therefore, I have placed your conscious into here."

"How was I supposed to know? I though you meant a zergling body!"

"You did not let me finish."

I cringed. She should have talked faster or interrupted me. It's her fault.

"Anything else I should know about broodlings?"

"They have a limited life-span, about an hour."

Really!? And they have a short life! I hate this body already.

"Fine!" I shouted in frustration. "Where are we anyways?"

"We are currently on an unknown planet. Simple scans revealed it is similar to your planet in terrain and atmosphere. It is hospitable and makes for a good place to grow our swarm."

"Do you know if there are… people here?" Oh man. The people of Earth freak out over aliens. Would this planet too?

"I am unsure, Vector. The overlord is limited in what it can observe. Only wild creatures flourish within the perimeter of our base. There are no signs of sentient beings."

"Okay. That's comforting to know. So, how do I grow the swarm, Queen?"

"That is not necessary, Vector. I can manage the growth of the swarm for you. Should you have any opposition, I will gladly obey you. This way you may be relieved of this duty, and have more to yourself. "

"Okay, that's not a bad idea. You're more experienced in this anyways. I'll leave this in your hands, Queen."

"But Vector, I do not possess hands, simply claws. I am quite puzzled by your choice."

"Queen, it's an expression. I don't mean literal hands; it means that I'll leave the matter with you."

"I see. Quite the interesting custom your people have. I shall attend my duties, Vector. Feel free to explore for the rest of your lifespan," she said while leaving me in the carcass.

From the dead beast's body, Vector headed in the opposite direction of the swarm cluster. The forest scenery reminded him of the forest back home. As he trotted on, he thought about his home, his brother, his mother, and Delta. He was homesick. Luckily, the appearance of an ineffably glimmering lake absorbed his attention. He had never seen such an awe striking body of water like this. Docile animals and luscious plants lined the pure lake, adding more to its beauty. However, his attention transferred from the scenery to a single object: a little girl splashing on the lake shore.

…

Note* I completely did not recognize this until just recently. Vector gets killed on planet Earth, he and his swarm wake up on a new planet. Sound familiar? And the ironic part is that, I developed this story to start off differently than the intro to East's The Zerg Swarm. Wow, talk about ironic.

Question is: should I change this chapter to not have him die and find himself on a different planet, or should I keep it? Feedback?


	8. Chapter 10

He had never seen such an awe striking body of water like this. Docile animals and luscious plants lined the pure lake, adding more to its beauty. However, his attention transferred from the scenery to a single object: a little girl splashing on the lake shore. The little girl intrigued him. Why is this girl here? Didn't Queen say there weren't people nearby? Curious, he approached her, inching closer and closer. Cloaked by the bushes, he quietly observed the girl. She was about Vector's age… or rather his previous human age. She had striking similarities to his mother and even himself. It was like the girl was his sister.

I wanted to go greet her, but I don't know how she'll react. Will she be kind to me or will she react in terror? I continued observing. She had just come out of the water and was drying herself and her wet clothes off.

He peered farther out of his bush to watch the girl. She turned around and saw him half sticking out of his cover. He quickly pulled his head back and hid here, hoping she hadn't seen him. Footsteps approached, getting closer and closer. A pair of hands parted the top of the bush and a face followed. Her face sported curiosity as her face viewed the broodling.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you," she said in a calming voice.

She offered her hands as a platform and I took my chances, I crawled on. She lifted me out of the bush and took me over to where her supplies were. She laid me down on the ground as she inspected me.

"I've never seen a creature like you before. I'm going to take you home and show daddy," she said picking up her belongings and stuffing me into her pocket.

It's nice and toasty here inside her pocket, though I occasionally bump into her body or be squeezed by her clothes. I poked my head out of her pocket for the lack of air and curiosity of where we're headed. We entered what I presume to be her home village. It's not that big, only a handful of buildings. Okay, now I'm mad. Did Queen seriously not detect a human village which is literally a mile away? Me fuming, she passed by what I believed to be a market of some sorts. We finally made it her house. It was just as plain as all the others, and was a tiny bit bigger than regular buildings.

"Dad! I'm home, and I brought something you should see," she yelled out.

Her hand entered into my little cave and kidnapped me from my warm adobe. She laid me on a cold, wooden tabletop decorated by papers, books, and leftover food pieces. 'Dad' came into view; he wore a white lab coat and an orange T-shirt underneath. I can see the resemblance between him and his daughter who resembles me. Could this be what my father looked like?

"Welcome back, Joule. What specimen do you have there?"

"I don't know, father. I've never seen it before, so I brought it back for you. Here, look at it," she said while handing Vector over to her father's hands.

"Very interesting," he pondered while examining me. The things this guy checked; definitely worse than the doctor checkups and definitely more embarrassing. He was turning me around, flipping me over, and placing me on my back: treating me like I'm some toy.

He set me down on the table and jotted down some notes. Just as I think the humiliation is finished, he reaches for me again.

"Okay. That's enough!"

They both stare at me.

"Don't more, Joule. Let's wait for it to calm down and then I can reexamine it."

"No! No more examinations! Stop toying with me, it's uncomfortable."

"Dad, I think should stop. It looks pretty mad."

Great, I'm 'it' again. At least Joule got my message, stopped showing hostility towards her father.

"Look, it worked, daddy!" she cheered as Vector calmed down. "Daddy, can I play with it?"

"I don't know, honey. It has those sharp claws it can attack you with."

"Oh please daddy? Please, please, please?"

"Looks like you're going to lose this round, pops," I chuckled.

"Okay, Joule. Just be careful and handle it gently."

"I will, dad," she reassured as she quickly took Vector into her room and put him on the floor and began to watch. "You're so cute."

Nope. I shook my head. How can anyone find zerg cute? Well… I guess if you really try…

She was surprised by his response. The little creature understood her and knew how to respond.

"Oh no… Do you already have an owner? Is that how you understand me?"

I shook my head.

"Then how do you understand me?"

I can't really answer this with a yes or no. "It's complicated."

"I guess it's a bit complicated for you to try and tell me," she sighed out.

Women: sometimes they're mind readers.

"Are you hungry?"

Something feels wrong, but I'm not hungry. Suddenly, I became super exhausted, like I've just a marathon. I fell onto my belly, too tired to stand up. Joule rushed to my side, worried about my unusual behavior.

"Are you alright, Sharp?"

I'm too exhausted to question how she knew my nickname. I laid there for a good minute until I suddenly regained my energy again. I jumped to my legs from the sudden energy spike. It didn't stop there. I could feel the energy building up in my body. Oh no…

"Get back, Joule!" I shouted as I waved my claws.

I ran into a corner of her room in an attempt to spare her the details. She gave me a strange look and followed. The energy reached its maximum, my body felt ready to pop.

It happened. My body expired and exploded, splattering a small ring of blood.

…

Note: Joule is pronounced as 'jewel.'


	9. Chapter 11

It happened. My body expired and exploded, splattering a small ring of blood. It's really weird to go from seeing Joule's bedroom to the strange looking hatchery though Queen eyes.

"_I see you are back, Vector."_

"_Queen, I need to get back. Make me a new body as quick as possible."_

"_I shall have the overlords scout for any creatures to produce your body. While they are searching, would you like to see the progress made?"_

"_Is there anything better I can do while waiting?"_

"_No there is not, Vector,"_ she replied; forcefully dragging me on a tour of the zerg swarm thus far.

"_So far, we have succeeded in claiming a reasonable size territory. Along with this land, we have stumbled upon minerals and Vespene gas, materials which we zerg are familiar with. Drones have been bred to gather these resources. I have successfully increased our warriors to over one hundred units: zergling and overlords. Along with our population, numerous buildings have been erected to provide defense, allow for further evolution, and spread creep." _

"_That's nice and all, Queen. But how's the search going?"_

"_It appears a host has been found. I am heading to its location immediately."_

It turned out to be a small bunny like creature. However, the bunny had a hand at the tip of its tail! One bloody mess later and I had my broodling body again.

"_Overlord, come pick me and my 'twin' up."_

I have plans to visit Joule and her father again. Hopefully nothing bad has happened to her. While Overlord was taking me there, I had a little talk with Queen.

"_Why didn't you tell me about the little human settlement?! It's literally right next to our base!"_

"_I apologize, Vector. It did not appear on our sensors; therefore I was unaware of the village at the time."_

At least he had found the village before something terrible could have happened. At least one family in the village isn't hostile to alien species. Hopefully, the rest of the town would be easy to convince as well. For now, Queen should also be on the lookout for any other signs of civilization that she might have missed.

Victor eventually reached Joule's village, using the path he remembered seeing, with his twin beside him and Overlord above. It looked completely different seeing it from this kind of view. The streets were unpaved dusty roads, and the buildings of this place were made of stone and straw. The people dressed in simple robes, lacking much color. Many sported dolorous looks while a few of the children were playing games. None of the people were bulging in size; rather, most of them were average and below in weight.

I eventually reached the Joule's house and easily slid under the wooden doors. Overlord and the other broodling were to wait outside and undetected until further instructions. I could hear her already. She was crying and her dad was attempting to comfort her. I followed the voiced, knowing I would find Joule again.

"Daaaaad, he just exploded. He's dead," she sobbed.

"Don't worry honey. Maybe you just startled him and that was his defense mechanism," Joule's father explained as he tried to comfort his daughter. He let out a sigh after a pause. "But, oh, what a chance to study a new, mysterious species. Gone. A shame really."

"Ahem," I coughed, wanting their attention. "Hi, Joule," I sheepishly said while waving my claw.

"Daddy, he's back!" she exclaimed, perking up instantly.

Joule jumped out of her father's lap and gave me a big hug. She was squeezing me again. After our moment of reunion, Joule took me back upstairs to resume playing.

"I'm still curious as to what happened to you, Sharp. Oh well. You're back and I'm so glad we can-"

There was pounding on the door, then a crash.

"Mister… you have some… business with us… You still… don't try… we'll bring you back to…"

Neither Joule nor I could hear the voices well, but we both knew her father was in some sort of trouble. We hurried downstairs to find the living room in a mess; footprints everywhere, paper scattered on the floor, the front door broken in pieces.

"Daaaaad? Dad!"

No response.

Joule fell onto the couch, crying. I tried my best to comfort her and to tell her things would be alright, though it clearly wasn't.

"_Overlord, did you see anything?"_

"_Yes. A mob of men with arms gathered in front of the residence. They broke into the house and dragged out a man. With the mob, the man was taken away. They have gone far enough out of my detection range that I can no longer track them."_

Joule will be crushed when she gets told that her dad was taken away. I take a look at Joule, who is still sobbing, on the couch and make up my mind. I'm going to help her get her dad back.

"Joule," I yelled, "follow me. I'm going to help you."

I got her attention. She looked up at me and momentarily stopped crying. Great, I get her to stop crying but now what? How can I get her to follow my lead?

"_Overlord, I need you to come down and pick up Joule."_

"Joule, can you follow me?" I asked gesturing my claw for her to follow.

"You… you want me to follow you?" she replied in between her sobs.

I led her from her destroyed living room to outside where Overlord waited. When Joule laid her eyes on Overlord, I swear I could have seen awe in her eyes for a split second. However, the more obvious emotion I felt from Joule was her fear and I understand that. She has every right to be afraid. Here is this house-sized monster that appears in front of her house.

"Joule, it's fine. Don't be afraid," I calmly spoke.

"_Overlord, pick us up and take us back to the cluster. Broodling, I want you to stay here until you expire. Gather as much info as you can without being seen."_

After enough coaxing, I managed to get Joule on board Overlord and we were off. Kind of reminds me of how Delta first reacted to the zerg. Delta… I wonder how she's doing now. Not just Delta, my family as well. I haven't even thought of Earth since I was killed. I guess I've been distracted.

While we were floating back, Joule was captivated as well by flight while I pondered about my past. How is everyone doing now? How is Delta managing? What is Greg up to now? Is mom okay? Will anyone find out that I was the zergling? What did the cops even do with my zergling body? So many questions whizzed though my head. Before I knew it, we had already arrived back at the base. It claimed so much territory now, almost like its own city. Zergling and drones littered the 'streets'- zergling on patrol or simply lounging around and drones mining and delivering resources.

Overlord set us down in front of the hatchery where I could feel Queen waiting for us. As Joule walked out of Overlord, she became even more afraid of the things around her.

"Sharp," she said nervously, "where are we?"

I couldn't answer that. I ran out of time. I exploded.


	10. Chapter 12

"Sharp," she said nervously, "where are we?"

I couldn't answer that. I ran out of time. I exploded. Next thing I knew, I was looking though Queen's eyes at my exploded body and Joule. Her teary eyes suggested she would begin to cry again.

"_Do something, Queen!"_

"_I am not quite sure how to respond, Vector. Perhaps I should give her a hug?"_

Queen embraced Joule and tried her best to give comfort, though Joule didn't seem to respond well. She began crying yet again. I had to do something to let her know I'm here, but what? That's when this weird idea struck me. I called over a zergling and asked it to behave like a dog for Joule. The zergling immediately cuddle up with Joule, wagging its tail and acting playful, at least the best a zergling could. It seemed to work. She stopped crying and eventually began playing with her new pet.

Good. With her a bit distracted, I could help get her father back. I sent out three overlords to explore the region where the men with Joule's father were headed. While the overlords were scouting, I gathered up a number of zergling to help me regain Joule's father. When an overlord caught sight of the enemy strong hold, I commanded the zergling hoard to rush to the location. Leaving Joule protected and distracted by her zergling, Queen and I slowly made our way behind the zergling. Queen could not run as fast as the zergling and therefore we separated were miles apart. When we arrived, just beyond their sight, the overlords relayed yet more information. The entire edifice was poorly guarded by men. It couldn't be this easy, could it?

Based on the view from the sky, relayed by the overlords, I decided on my attack route. Then, we attacked. The hoard of zergling rushed towards the building, their footsteps shaking creating the sound of a stampede. The few men that were stationed stood still, frozen by fear, some even fainting. I ordered the zerglings not to harm anyone unless they fired first. I'd hate for the zerg to continue their infamous terror stereotype. Ignoring the fleeing men, they tore the wall of the building down. Once inside the building, they scattered in all different directions searching for any remnant of Joule's father.

Search after search, each zergling reported back, each not having found Joule's father. Was this whole search and rescue idea poorly planned? Or is this not the correct location? Perhaps I'm just a bad leader. Pessimistic doubts filled my head with each passing report.

I heard a gun fire. I felt the zergling die. Quickly, I focused my attention to the source. It was a man, trembling at the sight of one of the zergling. His position was immediately overrun by zergling. Maybe I can extract some useful information from this guy; he was the only person who dared to attack us so far.

"_Queen, get this man to tell us as much information about Joule's father without killing him."_

"_As you wish, Vector."_

She approached the man which made him cower even more. Taking a deep breath, she slashed the man with her claw, leaving a gash on his arm. Bleeding, he grabbed his arm in recoil, clutching it in pain.

"_Queen! What was that for?!"_

"_I did not doing anything to kill him, Vector. You said yourself that I may use any method to extract information without killing the man."_

She got me there.

The man squirmed and began shaking uncontrollably. Screaming at the pain, he failed to notice the changes occurring on his body. His skin bulged hardened, turning into a zerg carapace, purple in tint, but durable. Along with his color change, tendrils exploded from his body, one from his temple, another from shoulder, a bulky one from his stomach, all swaying uncontrollably. The man, only by vague silhouette, regained composure and took a moment to glance at the effects of his pain. He screeched.

Simply looking at his new hand, more of a mix between hand and claw, he could not and would not accept the truth. Denial splattered all over the man's face, dripping though his expression. However, all signs of denial faded away, only to be replaced by a blank expression on his face.

What just happened? Queen just slashed him and then suddenly he becomes this half zerg-half human thing?

"_Queen, what's going on? I thought only people with the zerg gene would transform near zerg life forms."_

"_Correct, Vector, people with the zerg gene only transform when in range of zerg units. However, this is not a case of the gene; rather this process is called infestation. I inserted a hyper-evolutionary virus into the man's body though his wound. From there, the virus evolves and multiplies, mutating and corrupting the victim's DNA to exhibit zerg traits- the carapace, and claws for example. He is now a zerg and is part of the swarm, like with all other zerg; he is bound to you, the overmind. Therefore, my reasoning was that you would ask of information and he will reluctantly obey."_

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Infestation? To become infested, doesn't that mean your free will is robbed, to obey the will of the overmind no matter how you may reason otherwise? This wasn't what I had in mind; heck, I didn't even know that the zerg can infest people!

"_Queen, what have you done?!"_

I feel like slapping her right now. I mean, you resort to infestation of all options?

"_I have done what you have asked: to gather as much information about Joule's father without killing the man in whatever way I could."_

"_You've robbed him of his freedom. He never asked for this."_

"_No, but all things are to the benefit of the swarm. As long as the swarm benefits, it is just. Vector, observe as I ask the man what his name is. Since he is part zerg, he will be obliged to reply."_

"What is your name, new servant of the swarm?" Queen asked her victim.

"My name was Orthogonal, but now I am a child of the swarm. Long live the swarm!"

"Well then, you shall continue to be called Orthogonal."

"You honor me by with your decision."

Once the verbal conversation between Queen and Orthogonal finished, Queen returned to her mental conversation with Vector.

"_As you have observed, Vector, he is as loyal as any zerg creature. Now you may commence your interrogation, Vector."_

This was terrible. I though hearing it was bad, but watching it happen?! Orthogonal didn't even attempt to resist, like he's been brainwashed into obeying. The blank expression on his face made me worry. Had this man just been turned into a slave for the zerg, robbed of free will and emotion? True, I hated what infestation could do, and I am totally against it ever being used, but I will admit, this is a good opportunity to gather information about Joule's father.

"_Orthogonal, what do you know about Joule's father?"_

"You mean old Calorie? Well, he was in debt to the people I work for, something about funding his zoology program. Once his time was up, the boss took him hostage and locked him up to start repaying those debts. Me and a few other others were hired to guard the place where he is. "

I couldn't believe it, Joule's father, a debtor? He didn't seem like that kind of man, although appearances can be deceiving.

"_Then where is he? You're guarding him, right? Then he should have been in this building, so why isn't he?"_

"Calorie is not in the building itself, rather he is under it. The real base of operations is located underground, to people into thinking this is a rather worthless building."


	11. Chapter 13

"Then where is he? You're guarding him, right? Then he should have been in this building, so why isn't he?"

"Calorie is not in the building itself, rather he is under it. The real base of operations is located underground, to people into thinking this is a rather worthless building."

A submerged base of operations? I never would have expected something like that, not after the building we just examined.

Orthogonal, submissive to the zerg swarm, led the zergling hoard down the secret passage located in the first room that I inspected. From there, I directed the zergling to search for Calorie, ignoring the passive people, but to strike those that attack first. The idea of walking in and out of the stronghold without fighting was optimistic at most. There were rows of guards who began shooting at the zergling. A huge battle between the two forces raged on. As each zergling died, I could feel its presence disappear from my mind, like I could feel them dying out.

The battle was absolutely horrific. When I said to the zerglings to only hurt those who attack, it pretty much turned out to be practically everyone. Bullets flew toward the hoard, some flying completely past its intended target, others lodging itself into the home of its victim. However, the zerg were un-phased by the attack and lunged themselves into the battle, head first. Tearing men and women apart, the zergling squad cut though the enemy lines.

"_Orthogonal, lead the zergling to Calorie. Once you reach him, make sure you bring him back alive. Key word is alive, Orthogonal. Don't hurt him, if he shows resistance, drag him back alive."_

Orthogonal led the zergling to the holding cells after a battle with the hostile gang. By the time they arrived to the cells they had to cut though most of the human resistance leaving very few survivors alive. Once in the cells, they were greeted with screams of terror and reactions of fear from its residents.

"Calorie?" Orthogonal called out. "Calorie, we are here to retrieve you by the request of our Overmind."

"What? This is absurd, I'm never going with you monsters. Why are you even talking to me? How are you able to even able to speak our language?"

Breaking the old man out, Orthogonal had to drag the resilient father back to his daughter, passing by the battle site littered with the corpses of the dead. The sight horrified him.

While Orthogonal and the remains of the zergling group, we were tasked with reuniting Joule with her father. This would be fairly easy, right? She is pretty obsessed over her zergling companion so it would be easy to guide her back to their reunion site. That's exactly how it started out, Joule chasing her zergling pet leading her home while Orthogonal had to drag a fussy father.

"_I can't wait to see the reunion between the two."_

"_And I can't wait until I get rid of this guy,"_ complained Orthogonal.

Turns out we got here first. Leading Joule is a lot faster than dragging her father. When her father did eventually reach his home, he was still struggling against Orthogonal. A quick recognition from his daughter quickly turned his resistance to joy. He had been reunited with his daughter, a thought he only imagined was possible while rotting in his debtor's cell. They shared a heartwarming hug until interrupted by Queen.

"Well it is absolutely wonderful how you two are back together. Now then, what do we do from here, Vector?"

"_I don't know. I say we stay in the area, you know, keeping an eye on Joule."_

"Umm… I would just like to thank you for reuniting us," Calorie interrupted. "Since you have brought us back together, I can infer that you are an intelligent species, also communicating though series of growls and chirps. What I cannot understand is why you did it."

"Because our leader said so," Calorie replied.

"Right, the beast that has learned out tongue. If I may, I would love to do an analysis on your speech capability. I would like to formally thank your leader, where is he?"

"_Wait he wants to thank me?! But we have no means of communication… wait… what if I have Calorie translate. People can obviously understand him. Calorie, tell them everything I tell you, alright? You're going to be my middleman."_

"He currently lacks a physical body, however his conscious dwell within Queen," he informed, pointing at Queen to show which zerg unit he was referring to. "You are more familiar of his broodling body, the specimen that Joule brought home earlier today."

"Wait, are you telling me that was your leader!?"

"Yes. As of now, he is talking to you though me; I simply relay the information to you in an understandable language. He wishes to talk with your community leader about cooperation between our two races."

"Why, umm… sure. I could lead you to them, it's the least I can do for your deed. I'm just not sure if they will be as easily convinced. You can try as much as you want."

"Thank you."

The diplomats, led by Calorie, met the community leaders and discussed much about their future together. After a long talk, the two finally agreed on terms of cooperation with each other. To the zerg, it was a win-win situation. They would be in charge protecting the settlement while also having the advantage of increasing their territory. The human settlement posed no threat to the zerg.

-Three months after the incident-

As time passed on, the zerg became a natural part of life to the townspeople. They got along, cooperated, and even enjoyed the company of each other.

Vector quite enjoyed his new life among a people who had accepted him for who he is. He had the company of his zerg swarm, Queen, Orthogonal, as well as Joule and her father. All of this was possible because of the zerg gene that lingered in his blood.

It turns out that Vector's original zergling body could be salvaged. Though zergling are born in pairs, Vector was transformed into one. However, Queen had been developing, in her body, an exact replica of Vector's zergling body, which is how she could have served as a vessel for Vector's consciousness. With Vector, reborn into his zergling body, it seems as if everything were truly as normal as it could be.

Far away on the other side of the forest south of the human settle and Vector's swarm existed a towering mountain. The beauty of its snow covered peak left people in awe. The birds were chirping in the crisp, clean air after a foggy morning. The dew lingered on some plants that grew on the mountainside, occasionally dripping, wetting the ground below it.

Beneath one of the broken cliffs were boulders, once a part of the cliff. On one side of the boulder was the dead body of a young girl. However, on the other side of the pile of stones is of greater importance, a cocoon. A living, pulsating cocoon, growing in size and durability, lay next to the rubble. However, it was not an ordinary cocoon. This one was quite big, about a meter in diameter, capable to housing a small human child. But what made this special was…

…

And with this chapter, Vector's story has finished. The next chapter will start with a change in POV. Don't worry, you'll see Vector and his swarm again I guarantee story started out as random project I had during writer's block. Look where this has come to now. I'm proud of it. Thanks to everyone who read the story to this point and to those who reviewed.

If you want more of this type of writing, I'm always available on my tumblr dedicated to this story and its whole cast of characters. The link to the site is on my profile page.

If have managed to read my entire message without skipping anything, I applaud you. I never carefully read these on other stories and often glaze over them. So yeah, thanks again and see you next chapter. ~Turt

Review Q&A

1. What planets/locations are involved? – Well, I left that vague on purpose. If it doesn't get explained later, I'm sure it will, but Vector is from a planet similar to Earth in the 2000s. The planet they land sort of like a technology-less planet.

2. How do the zerg rapidly multiply? – Well, thing is, Vector left them under Queen's charge which is how they grew such huge numbers in such a limited time. If it were Vector, he probably couldn't have done that much.

3. The zerg gene, what is it? – The zerg gene plays a significant role in the story. That's all I'm saying for now.


	12. Chapter 14

"Limit! Wake up, dear! Epsilon is waiting for you!"

I completely forgot that we're meeting today! I quickly dressed into some casual, comfortable clothes. A matching set of shorts and a T-shirt picked straight from my closet. Rushing into the breakfast table, I mentally analyzed myself, checking off requirements on my mental checklist. Did I look nice? Do I smell okay? How about my teeth, is something stuck in between?

"Hi, mom. Mmmm. Whatever you're making, it smells good. I can't wait to eat it"

"Well of course, Limit. I made your favorite, omelets with steak. Today is a special day after all."

I don't see what's special about it so far. I mean, sure, Epsilon and I are going to out to play today. Nothing too special about that, though.

"Slow down, Limit. Your food isn't going to get up and run away. Slow down. You'll get a heart attack," mom criticized.

"Okay, okay, mom. I just don't want to keep her waiting," I lied.

Chugging my glass of water to finish my meal, I thought of all the fun things Epsilon and I were going to do today, the possibilities were endless. I thanked mom for making the meal and rushed out the door. There she was, standing outside our house, leaning against the wall of our house. She wore a simple shirt and skirt combo today, the kind of fashion that I'm used to seeing her wear. She smiled upon seeing me. I blushed a bit.

"Hi, Limit. Boy, it sure took you a while to wake up, didn't it," she teased.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. I couldn't fall asleep last night; I was too excited and stayed up late," I apologized.

"Well then, we'd better make up for lost time. Come on, follow me, let's get started!" she excitedly yelled while dragging Limit to their first destination.

The two kids eventually reached their first destination, a blue, shimmering lake. Surrounding the lake were fruit trees of many kinds, offering their products as nutrition for the duo after a long period of playing together, splashing in the shallow waters of the beaches, chasing each other in a game of tag, and even having games where each person would try and guess the number of fruit on a plant.

"Man, that was so fun," she chuckled in between her short breaths. "What should we do next?"

Before I could answer her question, a mysterious fog covered the lake and the surrounding area. We could barely see everything around us, just stuff within our arm span's length.

"Epsilon? I think we should go home. I can hardly see a thing in this fog. It's even hard to see you clearly."

"You're right, Limit," she said, grabbing my hand.

If she saw me blush I would have been more embarrassed. She's never held my hand before. I didn't know how to respond. However, Epsilon took the lead and guided us though the fog in attempt to get us back home. I knew she was trying her best to recollect the path we took and retrace them to get back home.

"Okay, I'll admit. We're lost," she sighed hopelessly after wandering for who knows how long.

"Maybe we should wait until the fog clears up. That was we can go straight home," I advised.

"Yeah, maybe you're right, Limit. Wait, I see light over there!" she shouted with excitement. "I'll race you to the exit. Last one there has to be the servant of the other person for three days!"

She ran towards the break in the fog too quickly. I couldn't catch up with her.

"Epsilon, wait-"

She screamed. I found her, hanging from the side of a cliff. She held onto the ledge as firm as possible and had a fearful expression.

"Epsilon, grab my hand! I'll pull you back up!"

She grabbed my hands and I tried to pull her back up; I couldn't. I was too weak to pull her up so I just let her hang there. Sooner or later she would…

"Limit," she cried, "I just want to say thank you for being there for me. I'm sorry for being so reckless all the time, getting you and sometimes the both of us in trouble. You're the best friend a girl could ask for. I'm so glad we met. Promise me you won't cry too much. You're a strong boy. You know, I've always been there for you, but now it's your turn, Limit!"

She chuckled in between her sobbing.

"Well, it looks like my time is up. Thank you for trying Limit. Now remember, don't cry. Go home and try your best to live a normal life. Swear to me you'll do it!" she shouted, eyes looking directly into mine.

"I swear by the name of this planet, L'Hospital, to try and live a normal life," I sobbed.

"Thank you, Limit. Goodbye."

She let go. She fell and I watched as she helplessly fell towards the ground.

"I love you! I always have from the first time we met!" she yelled, sobbing, falling.

She loved me?! So the feelings were both ways.

"Epsilon, I-"

Crack. Her body slammed into the ground, breaking every bone in her body. I could hear her horrific death from up here. It was even worse to watch it happen, or what I could see of it with the fog in the way.

"I… love you…" I hopelessly said.

She died before I could tell her that I loved her too. I lay there, replaying the events that just happened in my mind, over and over again until I had accepted the truth, Epsilon is dead.

Spread out on the floor, Limit let out a sigh of defeat. He couldn't even lay back and admire the sky with the fog in the way. It seemed as if everything was working to make this day as unfortunate for Limit as could possibly be. However, things did not end with the death of Epsilon. The ground underneath him began to crack and crumble. Before Limit could react, the cliff crumbled and collapsed from under Limit's feet. He plummeted towards his death in the same fashion his best friend, his lover did. Whether his was ironic or totally fitting that he died the same way this friend did is unsure.

"Well, at least I'll be with Epsilon sooner and nothing can stop me from dying. Actually, I though dying was scary. I'm not scared to die anymore," he told himself while falling to his death. "Hey, there's Epsilon."

Far away on the other side of the forest south of the human settle and Vector's swarm existed a towering mountain. The beauty of its snow covered peak left people in awe. The birds were chirping in the crisp, clean air after a foggy morning. The dew lingered on some plants that grew on the mountainside, occasionally dripping, wetting the ground below it.

Beneath one of the broken cliffs were boulders, once a part of the cliff. On one side of the boulder was the dead body of a young girl, now known to be Epsilon. However, on the other side of the pile of stones is of greater importance, a cocoon. A living, pulsating cocoon, growing in size and durability, lay next to the rubble. However, it was not an ordinary cocoon. This one was quite big, about a meter in diameter, capable to housing a small human child. But what made this special was the person inside.

…

L'Hospital is pronounced 'low' as in the opposite of high, 'P' as in the letter, 'tal' as in talon.


	13. Chapter 15

Beneath one of the broken cliffs were boulders, once a part of the cliff. On one side of the boulder was the dead body of a young girl, now known to be Epsilon. However, on the other side of the pile of stones is of greater importance, a cocoon. A living, pulsating cocoon, growing in size and durability, lay next to the rubble. However, it was not an ordinary cocoon. This one was quite big, about a meter in diameter, capable to housing a small human child. But what made this special was the person inside.

After the cliff Limit was standing on crumbled, he fell towards his death. However, before he struck the ground, an immense pain overtook his body and put him into a coma, making him completely numb to the fall. It shattered all of the bones in his body and caused broken bones to stab his organs, but that would soon be unimportant. His unconscious body began to bulge, skin bubbling and pulsating violently, only recognizable as a huge lump of flesh, pulsing and hardening into a cocoon.

I feel warm inside here, like I'm right at home. Everything's dark though and I can't see, hear, smell, or taste anything. I can feel though; feel the walls of my room. It's a bit small, making me feel like an animal in a cage. Am I… dreaming? Something in my mind flares up, like an instinct. Encouraged by my instinct, I poked at my surrounding wall with my hands, attempting to escape from my prison. It worked! The wall broke and I fell out, covered in some liquid.

"It's cold. Why is it so cold?"

The first thing Limit notices is the temperature. He ponders for a few seconds about the subject then tries to warm himself. About this time, his eyes ad adjusted to the lighting and he could now see.

"Whoa. It's night time already? What happened? Wait…"

He took a look around himself at the scene of Epsilon's death. He had to move around the pile of rubble separating him and Epsilon's dead body. Though it pained him, he began to recollect the events that happened: their race, Epsilon hanging off the cliff, her falling to her death, her very last words, and his own fall after the cliff crumbled underneath him.

"Wait… if I fell, how am I still alive?"

It was then that Limit realized what he had become, a hydralisk, a huge serpent type creature with scythes on both arms. This creature was quite slower than a zergling, but it made up for the fact with its ranged attack, shooting its needle spines that could pierce steel as if it were made of tofu. However, he did not know his own abilities yet, simply that he had become this creature and survived a drop from over a hundred meters.

I let out a scream discovering that I have claws instead of hands. Then I looked at my body. Not my body anymore. It was like a snake, curvy and sleek in shape, covered with scales. The weirdest thing about this body is that it feels natural. I thought I was walking on two legs, but somehow, I slithered over to Epsilon.

I put my arm-err... scythe on her face. She looked as peaceful, like she was simply sleeping, and that's what I wished she was doing. I cried, or as close to crying in this body. She was so young; she has so much to live for. I laid her back next to the rock pile and turned away. It will make a nice memorial for her.

She wouldn't want me to be sad like this. She would want to live life to the fullest. No more sadness. With this motive in my heart, I left the funeral, looking toward the future, a future he sought in the forest.

The sun was long gone. Everything was dark. Despite these circumstances, Limit's new eyes could see very well in the dark. He was sure this ability would come in handy in the future. Aside from his night vision, he had huge scythes for hands, capable of slicing a man in half. He would really need to worry about who he would hug from now on.

A grumbling in his stomach interrupted his laundry list of discoveries. Even this body had its limits, no pun intended. He didn't even know what he could eat, perhaps some fruit, maybe some animal meat?

After foraging around, he stumbled upon a few berries and fruit. The tiny treat stopped the stomach from grumbling, but how long would it last? With the moon shining high in the sky, Limit approached a small clearing. Snarls traveled from the other end of the clearing. Our curious protagonist inched his way over until he could see a confrontation between canine like creatures. Four wolf like creatures faced each other as if about to engage in warfare. Two were pinned against a rock with nowhere to run.

They fought. Blood splashed as the beasts battled. Claws slashed and cut though fur and skin, teeth stained red with their opponents' blood. The two pinned against the rock fought viciously, to the death. The other two, as was I, were about to leave when a small yelp caught our attention. It came from the rock. A small wolf pup crawled out of its hiding spot, confused. However, the two enemy wolves noticed as well and began attacking the pup. I couldn't tolerate this, even if it was only an animal. I slithered toward the fight, yelling, hissing, and waving my scythes in an attempt to scare them. They weren't. Instead they turned their attention to me, snarling. I wasn't afraid- actually, I kind of am. I don't know if I can beat them, but as I look at the injured pup, I know I have to.

Two against one, not fair, but it didn't matter. The beasts attacked first, slashing at Limit's carapace. Pierced and now leaking blood, Limit took advantage of their range. While the beasts were near, he slashed at the one to his left, blade slicing though flesh and bone as if it were made of tofu. With the successful kill of one pest, Limit turned to the other, horrified at the death of his friend. The beast ran off in fear for its own life as it should.

With the beast gone, I was relieved. I could see that the little pup was really young, and those two defending the rock must have been the parents. I felt really bad for the poor guy. He began to whimper and bark. I didn't know what to do. He clumsily walked over to the corpse of his dead parents. Sniffing the bodies, he began eating them! That's pretty nasty and doesn't even seem right for a child to being their parent, even if it was just an animal. I carefully picked up the pup, making sure I don't kill the thing, and put it back in the rock's crevice.

"Now be a good boy and stay in here, okay?"

The pup just stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language. It yawned and fell asleep. That would give me time to go hunt for something for him to eat, something that wasn't his parents. The wounds from the battle seemed to have disappeared, or was I imagining it to be worse than it real was? I'm not sure what happened, but I'm glad I'm not bleeding.

Limit found himself at some kind of small creature's den. He looked inside to find a nest bustling with activity. Babies were roaming around the place making much mischief for mom and dad. The former human battled with his emotions, should he inflict terror and perhaps pain on this family? Either to restrain himself from destroying a family intentionally and die of starvation, or he would yield to the law of nature, survival of the fittest.

The decision was made. He stole a straying child from the nest and ended its life outside the den with a slit to the neck. Blood leaked out forming a pool underneath and staining the white coat of the mammal. The parents shouldn't have to watch their child die. He took his meat back to the den of the sleeping pup.

"I'm going to name you Mu," I said smiling at the snoozing pup.

Epsilon always wanted a pet.


	14. Chapter 16

Mu is pronounced "Mew"

…

"I'm going to name you Mu," I said smiling at the snoozing pup.

Epsilon always wanted a pet.

Ever since Limit found and adopted Mu, the two grew a strong bond. The hydralisk often cared for his new pet, nursing it, raising it, and showing affection towards Mu. Once the creature was old enough, the duo went on hunting expeditions for their daily meals. The wolf developed its hunting skills as the months progressed, getting stealthier as well as quicker and stronger. He viewed Limit as his father since his original parents were killed. He never knew love besides the love that his father showered him with. To him, every other creature only loved him for his taste.

Limit, on the other hand, saw his wolf companion as a pet; a loyal, obedient pet. The only reason he adopted the pup was to honor Epsilon's wish, having a pet. He was glad he had a companion to talk to, even if his friend couldn't talk back. Sometimes, Limit would imagine the lives of both of them if he hadn't adopted Mu. There would have been a slight chance for Mu's self survival, but the odds favored his death. Limit predicted himself becoming lonely or perhaps even insane.

Aside from their relationship, Limit also discovered the usefulness of a hydralisk. They could shoot out very sharp needle spines, giving them ranged attack. This needle spine, if shot with the maximum force, could travel up to fifty feet in distance and piece though everything as tough as a rock. This made hunting easier since he could simply snipe his prey from a distance. Additionally, a hydralisk could coat its spines with a special organic fluid, created inside their bodies, for additional effects. An acidic coating with give the spine corrosive properties, giving the spine extra power to piece their target. A coating of a sticky adhesive, once in the body, will slowly shut off nerve response to the brain, leaving the target paralyzed. A similar looking substance would activate the pain receptors in the body, all at once, causing the victim to feel immense pain throughout the body. However, the last coating was a compound that neutralized all toxins in the body, effectively curing any illness or status affliction. The cure coating was especially helpful in treating Mu's conditions from eating berries that caused stomach aching and even poisoning.

One day, while on a hunting expedition, the two overheard gun fire. Mu fled in fear while Limit slithered toward the sound. It was a boy, early teens, firing at a crazed looking beast. Limit knew this type, a rawhide, a fairly average beast. However, it looked as if the boy were having trouble killing it, as noted by the bullet missing their target four out of every five shots. The rawhide pounced, pinning the kid to the ground with only his gun separating his face from a very hungry mouth. This was Limit's first encounter with a human since his transformation into a hydralisk many moons ago. Maybe if he could save the boy, he could get back home.

"Hey!" I shouted.

Both the boy and the beast stopped their struggle and looked at me. I could see the fear in the kid's eyes, about to become a meal for this bigger, scarier creature. The rawhide was indifferent, only seeing me as a competitor for his food. She growled at me, attempting to scare me off. I really wasn't in the mood so I shot a needle spine at her head, killing her instantly. He dead body fell on the boy, weighting him down and preventing him from escaping.

"Hey, I need your help," I told the boy. "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to kill you."

To the boy, the strange beast just growled and snarled at him. He couldn't understand Limit. However, Limit was determined to communicate with the boy. He tried speaking slowly, articulating his words harder, using emotion in his words, using gestures, all of his attempts failed. By the fifth attempt, the boy calmed down enough to see that the monster in front of him wasn't out to hurt him.

"You're trying to talk to me, aren't you," the boy asked.

Limit nodded.

"Wait, you can understand me? The nod you just made, was it a yes?"

He nodded again.

"Okay, so you can understand me. Now can you help me get this body off of me? It's really heavy."

I easily shoved the body off allowing the boy to stand up.

"Thanks. I'm Taylor by the way and I'll name you Sharp cause of your sharp claws there," he spoke.

Limit scoffed at his nickname. However, he was glad enough that it wasn't something silly like 'Fluffy.'

"Look, I don't think I can take you home with me. You might cause a ruckus."

I shook my head. Why would I do that?

"Stay here, I'm going to be right back. I need to report back in."

He picked up his gun and ran away from the area. I sat there for a while, just staring at the slain beast. I wasn't really hungry. Mu came back. I don't really know where he ran off too, but he seemed happy and devoured the entire meal in front of him. After he finished eating, I watched him run around, playing, napping, and doing all sorts of weird things like trying to walk on two legs. Finally Taylor came back, huffing. Out of breath, he dropped on the floor. Mu stuck a hunting pose, but I gave him a command to stop.

"I'm fine," he managed to say in between puffs.

It took a minute for him to regain his normal breathing pace.

"What's with the wolf?" he asked. "Never mind, I don't understand you anyways."

Taylor got up off the ground on motioned for me to follow. We walked in the direction he previously ran off to. The sun was setting in the horizon. Night was approaching and that was bad. Night was then the native animal activity increased dramatically, meaning things got more difficult at night. It's a good thing I don't need sleep so I can keep watch during the night. It was boring, but it saved our lives a couple times when some serpent like monsters found their way into our den and I was awake to kill them.

"Well, here we are," he said with a smile. "This is my home. Welcome to Cartesian City."


	15. notice

Sorry to get your hopes up with this update but...

I'm struggling to keep this story alive, partly due to school, partly cause I got Starcraft 2 for Christmas, all of it due to writers bleh (I wouldn't call it block)

However, instead of advancing the story, I thought I'd revise some chapters, make this story more, realistic, and use a mathematical model to actually calculate the amount of bio energy at any given time. Although this may take some more time, it will be more accurate, and certainly 'nerf' the zerg, as they should be.

I'm not dead, nor will I give up this story at the present time. I will delete this 'chapter' once I finish my revisions and upload my next chapter.

Thanks for putting up with me and my story :P

Really means a lot.

Also, I'm looking for anyone who would be willing to work with me on this story, like a co-author. Message me if you're interested.


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